Edward
J. Markey has constructed an extraordinary legislative record
since his first election to the United States Congress in
1976. As the highest Ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee
on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection, he has
shaped more than 20 years of telecommunications policy while
continuing to champion consumer rights, health reform, the
elimination of large monopolies, the conservation of environmental
resources and the reduction of nuclear threats. Rep. Markey
is consistently rated as a "legislative hero" by the Conservation
Law Foundation, the Consumer Federation of America, the Children's
Defense Fund and the National Education Association. His legislative
record spans the breadth of Congressional policymaking, as
befits a national leader with a commitment to a district which
includes both blue-collar and high-tech suburbs north and
west of downtown Boston.

Competition
remains Rep. Markey's economic mantra - in his words, "ruthless
Darwinian competition that would bring a smile to Adam Smith."
Accordingly, he has been instrumental in breaking up anti-consumer,
anti-innovative monopolies in electricity, long-distance and
local telephone service, cable television, and international
satellite services. He was one of the only members of the
Commerce Committee to fight AT&T's monopoly in the early 80s
and is a principal author of the requirement that the Bell
Operating companies accept local telephone service in the
90s. His pro-competition policies have directly benefited
job creation in Eastern Massachusetts and throughout the country.
In the 106th Congress, Rep. Markey remains very active on
telecommunications issues, generating new sources of effective
competition to cable TV franchises, local telephone operators,
and satellite services. Meanwhile, he is pressing for an "Electronic
Privacy Bill of Rights" and has introduced major initiatives
on both medical and financial privacy. As a member of the
Budget Committee, he is a Democratic point-person on Social
Security and Medicare, and he recently formed a bipartisan
Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease to get in
front of this looming demographic reality affecting so many
of our families.

Ed
Markey was born in Malden, Massachusetts, on July 11, 1946.
He attended Boston College (B.A., 1968) and Boston College
Law School (J.D., 1972). He served in the U.S. Army Reserve
and was elected to the Massachusetts State House where he
served two terms representing Malden and Melrose. He is married
to Dr. Susan Blumenthal.